Bonjour Croissants

Long weekends are perfect for a project like croissants--because they are, indeed, a project. The yeast dough needs to be mixed and rest several hours or overnight; the butter is rolled in, in several steps; the croissants are shaped; and then they still need to rise for a few hours. After all that, they're baked, and luckily this part takes less than 20 min., though they do have to rest after that, too. Having said all that, I *like* this whole process (and making puff pastry too)--and the results are totally worth it. I made a half version of the recipe from "Baking With Julia," and actually only baked off half of that, so I still have some in the freezer to play with. These croissants are fairly small, maybe four or five inches, instead of the big ones you often see in bakeries.

Very light and flaky inside ...